


Let me help you (if I can)

by GGCharms



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Abused Eugene Roe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, M/M, Protective Easy Company
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 09:18:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11414880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GGCharms/pseuds/GGCharms
Summary: As Babe begins his new job as "Easy Company"'s bartender, he falls head over heels in love with a regular that possesses raven hair, ivory skin, and a dark secret.





	Let me help you (if I can)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I know I'm supposed to be working on "Easy's Omega", but I got caught up in the idea of an abused Gene, and this was born. Let me tell you, it was NOT supposed to be this long haha. But I'm glad I wrote it, and I hope you enjoy. I just want to put out there that I am not an expert of abuse, and I did not do much research on it either. I'm sorry if anything that I wrote offends anyone, and feel free to correct me. I do know a lot of this is a stretch, and abuse does not lead to fairy tale endings. I recognize that it is a very serious topic that should not be taken lightly, and I hope I at least do it somewhat justice.
> 
> I also apologize for any OCCness. I'm new to writing for the fandom, so I'm learning a little at a time how to pinpoint each personality.
> 
> I got the idea after watching this PSA commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL3rfk2iFww
> 
> and this Ted Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1yW5IsnSjo
> 
> I hope you enjoy, I'm sorry for any mistakes.

* * *

 

Ok, Babe, see what you gotta do is-”

Babe really wanted to listen.

“Because if you don’t mix it like this then-”

And he knew he probably should be listening.

“This is how ta refill them. If you don’t do it right sometimes it doesn’ come out fully-”

But that guy in the corner table

“Babe are you listenin’ to me?:

Was just

“Babe?”

So

“Babe!”

Beautiful.

“BABE!”

“Ow!” his hand whipped to the back of his head, “What the hell was that for?!”

Bill just looked at him with an irritated expression.

“What do ya mean ‘What the hell was that for?’? I’m tryin’ to train ya hear and you’re spacing out on me!”

Babe had the decency to at least look guilty. He had been hunting for a job for months, and had been complaining for more than double that time because of how much his old job sucked. Bill, the great friend that he is, was able to pull some strings at this amazing restaurant he worked at, “Easy Company”, and had them hire Babe as a bartender. Considering they already had three bartenders, Bill,George Luz, and the Head Bartender, Pat Christenson, the gesture was very appreciated (like Babe almost started to cry when Bill told him he was hired).

So far, the job was amazing. The owners, Dick Winters and Lewis Nixon, were easy to talk to and completely understanding of his situation. He remembered his first meeting with them pretty much went like

“Thank you so much! I’ll be your hardest worker, and I’ll never take off, and I’ll get here early, and stay late, and clean up, and never be on my phone, and-”

“Hey, easy there, we just appreciate any kind of extra help, no need to stress yourself though!”

“You seem like a good kid, just don’t steal any of the booze.”

“....like you, Lewis.”

“Hey, it’s my restaurant.”

“Our restaurant, Lewis.”

He figured out an hour later that they were married.

He met the Financial Advisor, Harry Welsh, his first week. He was nice, and easy to talk to. Although, all he seemed to be able to talk about was his wife, Kitty, who worked as the hostess. According to Bill, that’s why he was there all the time.

He also liked the Front of House Manager, Carwood Lipton, AKA Mom. In the words of George Luz,

“He listens to all of our problems, even the customers’, and that’s supposed to be our job. And then he tries to fix them. He’s always here too, even when he’s sick. One time he even had pneumonia, and it took his boyfriend to physically drag him out of here to rest. Got him home and he was snug as a bug I tell you.”

Lip’s boyfriend, Ronald Speirs, was the Kitchen manager, and all Babe could say about him was that he was really, REALLY, glad that he didn’t have to go to that guy for his problems. His stare was so intense, Babe was sure he could just look at a guy and he would wet his pants. Thank God his eyes were mostly trained on Lipton (more specifically, Lip’s ass). He took over after their last kitchen manager, a man named Norman Dike, changed the menu thirty times, fell asleep while on the job, and almost burned down the kitchen.

The three bus boys, Donald Malarkey, Skip Muck, and Alex Penkala, told him that one time, a drunken customer threw his plate at a waiter named Charles Grant when the order was wrong. The hit caused the waiter to fall over, and hit his head again on a table. Speirs drove him to the hospital. He was out for a month and a half.

Before the customer could get away, a group of guys dragged the man to the back alley and started beating the crap out of him. When Speirs came back from the hospital he had a gun in his hand (“A gun?! No fucking way!” “Yes way, now let me tell the fucking story!”), and held it to the customer’s forehead. Everyone thought for sure Speirs was gonna shoot the damn guy, but he just ended up smacking him across the face, and telling him to never come back (“Jesus Christ….” “I know.”).

And that wasn’t the only story about Ronald Speirs. Apparently, he served in the military before coming to the restaurant.

“I swear to God, he gave all of the prisoners smokes before shooting them!”

“How many guys?”

“Like twenty!”

“You hear how he killed one of his own men because they were drunk? Shot him point blank.”

“How about when he came back from war, and was arrested in a small town, only to break free because of his flashbacks from war, and have an entire manhunt for him in the woods.”

“Luz, that’s Rambo.”

“Joe, Speirs is basically a skinnier version of Rambo.”

So yeah, Babe was happy he had Lipton to go to.

The rest of the guys were really great too.

There was the head chef, Bull Randleman, and the sous chef, Johnny Martin. Bull was pretty laid back, and always had a cigar in his mouth, except it was never lit while inside of the restaurant. For a short guy, Johnny Martin sure had a huge temper when you got him riled up. He took no bullshit from anyone.

The line cooks were guys named Roy Cobb, Don Hoobler, and Floyd Talbert. All great men, although Cobb seemed to really have some anger issues.

Not as bad as their fryer, Joseph Liebgott, of course. Liebgott hardly ever smiled, and always seemed to be be bitching about something. It used to be about this one guy, David Webster. It turned out to be sexual tension, and now they were dating. Webster came in every night after his classes. Apparently, he was going for an English major, and he was always reading something while waiting for Liebgott to finish his shift. Sometimes, Liebgott wouldn’t even be done working, and he would still go out in the dining/bar area to talk to Webster, until Speirs came out to drag him back to the kitchen by his ear.

They had a soup/sauce cook, Frank Perconte, and a pastry chef, Shifty Powers. One was definitely more vain than the other.

“Come on, Gonorrhea, as a fellow Italian, you have to agree my sauce is to die for.”

“Uh, my pie really isn’t that good, but thank you for saying so.”

Outside of the kitchen, there were five servers. The only waitress was a french speaking transfer student studying nursing, Renee LeMaire. The rest of the waiters were Charles Grant, James Alley, Skinny Sisk, and a younger kid named John Julian.

They also had a lot of regulars in the restaurant.

There was a police officer named Joe Toye. Once he came in, he always sat at the side of the bar Luz was in charge of, and for the rest of the night, Luz would basically ignore all customers and become Toye’s personal bartender.

They had a lawyer come in frequently. His name was Buck Compton. He helped the restaurant with a lot of legal paperwork when it first got started, and continued to vouch his allegiance in case Easy Company ever needed any help. He was really good at poker and darts. He and Luz once tricked Babe and Toye, making him play with his left hand until Babe made them bet. All in all, Babe lost twenty bucks.

They had another nursing student come in once in while. He was also from Philly, so Babe and Bill became really good friends with him. His name was Ralph Spina.

Easy Company had a lot of regulars, names ranging from Moose Heyliger to Smokey Gordon. But the one Babe was really interested in was sitting in a little corner table all by himself, cradling a cup of coffee (he didn’t even know they served coffee), while going over notes for a class.

He was small and lithe. It just made Babe want to hold the man in his arms, wrap him up, and keep him warm. His skin, from what he could see with his long blue sweater and jeans, was pale like ivory. When he took a sip from his coffee, Babe followed the way his Adam’s apple moved, and could only imagine what it would be like to mark the skin that rested there. His hair was so dark, it was almost blue, and it was thick and unruly, like a puppy. Babe just wanted to run his fingers through it, working out all of the tangles. But his favorite part about the man, were his eyes, because he couldn’t figure them out. At one angle, they were like charcoal, but then the man would move, and flecks of silver would appear. Then he would tilt his head just so, and they would magically turn blue, with melted honey swirling around the pupils. It was hypnotizing.

_Smack_

“BABE!!!”

“I’m sorry! Jesus stop hitting me!”

“Then pay attention!”

“Ok I will!” he then got an idea, “In fact, I have a question oh wise master.”

“Yeah,” Bill started as he turned back to drying the glasses, “And what’s that?”

“Who’s that over there?”

Bill looked in the direction he nudged his head towards. Immediately, when his eyes got to the dark haired man, an uncharacteristic look of sadness fell upon his face.

“Oh, that’s Doc.”

“Doc?” he didn’t really look like a ‘Doc’ to Babe. In fact, the only ‘Doc’ he’s ever heard of was in Looney Tunes whenever Bugs Bunny addressed people.

“That’s just what we call him, because he’s in med school. His real name is Eugene Roe.”

Eugene. Gene. That was more like it. He definitely looked like a Gene.

“Is he in here everyday?” because that would just make his job go from amazing, to unbelievable.

When he didn’t hear an answer from Bill, he looked over, only to catch him staring at Gene with a look of protectiveness, something he hasn’t seen on Bill’s face since Babe was bullied in grade school.

“Yeah, everyday after his classes, right until six o’clock,” he then turned his gaze towards Babe, and spoke like he was scolding a child, “and don’t go buggin’ him ‘bout it, he’s got a rough time at home, and this is the only place he can find some peace.”

Babe raised his eyebrow, “Rough time?” if he meant school, then everyone was stressed with school. Babe guessed med school would be harder, but it still wasn’t something to garner this much concern from Bill.

Bill sighed, and put the glasses down to look at Babe, “Look, Babe, I know why you’re asking all of these questions, and before you get too interested, let me just put out there that he has a boyfriend.”

Babe, frowned, disappointed at the statement, but that didn’t answer his question. He was about to voice it again, when Bill continued,

“And his boyfriend is the problem at home.”

Now THAT peaked Babe’s curiosity.

“You mean like,” he stopped to make sure the beautiful man wasn’t looking there way, before lowering his voice, “abuse?”

The word caused Bill to cringe, but he, nevertheless, answered the question.

“Yeah, that’s what we all think,” he guiltily looked at Gene once more, his face softening in a way Babe never saw before, but when he looked back at Babe, his face was clearly in his ‘No bullshit’ mode, “But don’t go throwin’ that word aroun’ every chance you got. It’s a sensitive topic around here.”

“But if everyone thinks the same thing, then why haven’t you talked to him about it?”

Bill was currently looking at him like he woke up as the winner of ‘Stupidest Man Alive’.

“We’ve tried, Babe, when we first started thinkin’ it. Individually, we haven’t seen much, but togetha we’ve got a real case goin’, or at least, that’s what Buck says. Doc just always bipasses our concerns, and promises nothin’ is wrong. We know betta, though.”

“When you say you guys haven’t seen much individually, does that mean you haven’t seen any clear signs of abuse?”  

“Look,” Bill started, “I’ll tell ya what I’ve seen, and you can think what you want.” Bill looked over at the medical student, only to see him in the exact same position he’s been in the entire time, flipping through notes and sipping coffee.

He then took Babe’s arm, and dragged him to the farthest end of the bar where the raven haired man had the least likely chance to overhear them.

“Ok, I’m only gonna tell this ta ya once, so ya better listen in.”

Babe, now full of of anticipation, couldn’t help but lean forward, so he to make sure he didn’t miss a thing.

Knowing that he had his friend’s rapt attention, Bill began his story.

“When I first started working here, I noticed some weird things with the Doc. It was mostly with just how quiet he is, how he never even tried to talk to us, or have any friends. And yet, he never wanted ta leave either.”

“Did you ever try to talk to hi-OW! Can you PLEASE stop hitting me!”

“Then don’t interrupt!” Bill exclaimed, only to realize how loud he shouted. He quickly made sure he didn’t draw any attention to them, before continuing.

“Now, because he came in so often, some of us have tried chattin’ with him. Even Webster and Spina, and they don’t even work here. He seemed to open up to some of us, like Spina and Lip, but every time a guy talked to him, he got super nervous, and kept looking at the door, holding his breath whenever someone walked in. The only person he’s really comfortable around is Renee. She’s the only one that serves him too. Now, can I move onto my story?”

Babe made a go ahead motion with his hands.

“Alright, well one day, Doc walked in looking really tired, like he hasn’t slept in days. In fact, no one saw him for a week before he walked in. He sat where he usually does, ordered his coffee, and did his school work, but he fell asleep after only fifteen minutes. No one had the heart to wake him up, especially since he looked so sick, so we let him be.”

Bill sighed, “Well, it came closin’ time, and he still didn’t budge. I felt bad, but I wanted to go home, and I was the one in charge of closin’ that day. So I walked over to him, and went to tap his shoulder. I swear, I barely put my hand on him when he jumped up so high he knocked the chair over, actin’ like a slapped him.”

Bill was silent for a moment, letting Babe digest the information, before shaking his head, “It was a scary sight, especially with someone I consider a friend. I asked him what was wrong, but he just quickly packed up his stuff and left.”

Babe stared at Bill, taking in the story piece by piece, rolling the facts in his head. He then came to a conclusion.

“So, all of that just leads to something like abuse? OH MY GOD it was just a question! Stop hitting me!”

“Then stop asking stupid questions! I told you, individually, we haven’t seen much, but togetha our stories add up. Look, if you’re really curious, just ask around, almost everyone has seen somethin’.”

Babe nodded, already looking around for someone willing to talk to him. He didn’t know why he cared so much, especially since he just saw the man today, and he hasn’t even spoken a word to him yet. Maybe it was because it was interesting gossip, maybe it was to find out why everyone cared so much, or maybe it was because the man reminded him of a sad teddy bear that he just wanted to hug and see a smile on that face everyday…...in his bed. And he could make other faces and noises in his bed too,

And he was getting side tracked.

Whatever the reason, Babe was ready to start his investigation. The moment he spotted Luz, he almost booked it right to him, mouth running in a flurry of questions. However, he barely made it two steps before a hand reached out and snagged the back of his t-shirt, tugging him away from his goal.

“Not so fast, Sherlock. Before you go bothering every poor soul in here about the Doc, you still have six more hours of trainin’ with me.”

Babe could swear Bill’s mouth was filled with sharp teeth as a sinister smile crossed his face.

“And if I have to explain ta ya how ta stack the glasses one more time, I’m gonna murder ya, ok?”

Babe tried to swallow past the lump that formed in his throat.

“Ok.”

He’d start his investigation tomorrow.

 

* * *

 

Whenever Babe had a chance, he would ask anyone who was willing to talk about Gene.

He started with his good friend Spina.

“I’ve known Gene outside of here, he was in some of my pre-med classes before I switched to a nursing major.”

“Do you know what’s going on with him?”

Spina frowned, “If you mean if I know about the things being said about his life around here, than yeah.”

“And do you agree?”

“It’s hard to say,” he said while rubbing the back of his neck. Babe couldn’t blame him, it was an awkward question, “I remember when I first met him he was a lot more,” he paused to think of the right word, “open. Still quiet, but he would come to study sessions, and let me drag him to some parties. He could be really funny too, in his own kind of dry humor. He also looked a lot healthier, and I should know. He was never as tired as he is now.”

“That’s all?”

Spina shrugged, “About a month after I switched majors, Gene cut all of his friends out of his life. We knew he got a boyfriend, but it all seemed so fine in the beginning. It was such a sudden change, that I’m 95% sure his boyfriend told him to stop hanging out with us. I was shocked to see him here, and we’ve been able to catch up a little, but I can tell he’s even more tense than the last time I saw him. But, yeah, that’s all I know.”

Babe nodded, not quite getting the answer that he wanted, but enough to know there was definitely something going on with the mysterious stranger.

So he thanked Ralph, and refilled his drink for him.

He was about to walk away, when Spina called out to him.

“Hey, if you want to know more, I would ask the three stooges in the back, they always seem to have a story.”

Babe took the idea into consideration, and decided to ask them the next chance he got.

It turned out to be harder than he originally thought to get all three together, but on one day, all of their breaks seemed to align perfectly.

“So, do you guys know anything about Gene?”

“The Doc?” Malarkey questioned.

“Yeah, just like, any stories you might know about him.”

The mood seemed to shift from goofing around to pretty serious. All three of them seemed to give each other hesitating looks.

“Well, first and foremost, Doc’s a good guy, let’s get that straight,” pointed out Skip, “this isn’t just talking shit about someone, this is three guys telling another friend their concerns about their other friend, ya hear me?”

“Yeah!” Penkala jumped in, “Even if he doesn’t really consider us his friends, we still think of him as a buddy!”

Babe raised his hands in mock surrender, “I get it guys, I’m just trying to get a full picture before I come to a conclusion about the guy.”

With that sentence, all three stooges turned their heads towards Babe with a surprised look, that than morphed into mischief.

“Oh, is Babe interested in our Doc?”

“Wouldn’t that be cute, another Easy couple!”

“We mate from within, ya know!”

“You’ll be the new talk of the bar! It’s better than always talking about Luz and Toye.”

“Those two are already dating!”

“No they’re not, they’ve just been flirting for months!”

“You don’t know that!”

“Yes I do! Don, tell him!”

“I thought we were talking about Doc?”

“Yeah we were!” Babe cut in, “and I’d like to continue that conversation.”

“Ok, ok, hold your horses. I’ll go first,” spoke Malarkey, trying to calm everyone down, “So about four months ago, I was on my break, yeah? So I decided to go out for a smoke real quick. It was late, and we were almost closing, so instead of going to the alley, I decided to hang out front. Not even five minutes from when I lit the damn thing, does Doc come storming out,  trying to put his jacket on with one hand, while clutching his phone with the other. The person on the other phone was screaming so loud, I could hear it as if the guy was standing right next to me. And he was saying some pretty nasty things too, like, calling Doc some pretty ugly words,” he looked like he was going to repeat some of the things he heard, but Don just shook his head, “I just felt so bad for Gene, he looked really panicked. I tried not to be seen, but he saw me anyways. Gave me this really sad look, reminded me of a kicked puppy, and then started walking to the bus stop.”

The room became really solemn after the story, although, it looked like Penkala and Skip already knew about the ordeal. After a moment of silence, Penkala decided to speak up.

“Well, I remember about a year ago, we had that really bad wind storm. Tore up all of the hedges, made the front of the restaurant look like shit. Doc said his boyfriend owned a landscaping business, and could fix it up in less than a week. Winters and Nixon were so grateful, they called him right away. But his boyfriend never showed, only his crew, and the most they did was dig up what was good, and hang out by the bar. By the end of the week, the only progress they made was them bringing in the new stuff, but they left it just laying around, and then they stole the tools we lent them. Doc was so embarrassed, he promised to talk to his boyfriend. The next day, he came in limping and with a swollen, bruised cheek. Said he fell down the stairs, and that he’d try again that day to talk to his boyfriend. We all talked him out of it, and made it a fun project instead. Doc tried to help the best he could, but we could tell whatever marks that bastard left on him were really bothering him. And we know he left marks.” Penkala said it like he was more sure than he’s ever been before in his life.

“I saw real marks before, though,” began Skip, “and recently too. I was taking a piss last week, and when I was washing my hands-”

“Woah, you wash your hands?!”

“Shut up, Penk! Now where was I? Ok, so when I was washing my hands, Gene was washing his hands too. He had his sleeves rolled up, and I could see bruises on his wrist. They were shaped like finger marks, too, there was no mistaking it.”

“Maybe it’s like a kink, though,” Babe pointed out.

Skip shook his head, “No these weren’t like “I love you so much I’m gonna mark you,” bruises. That’s Liebgott and Web’s thing. These were dark, swollen, and painful looking. I couldn’t even imagine how long and hard you’d have to hold someone like that to make those kinds of marks.”

Babe was still confused, “If you guys have seen clear signs of abuse, then why haven’t you done anything?”

All three looked at Babe like he was crazy.

“You’ve obviously never seen Doc mad, Babe. We’ve tried, or at least, Dick and Harry tried once while we were all around. They told him that they knew what was going on, how he should get some help, and Gene blew up on them. It was honestly the scariest thing I’ve ever seen.” explained Penkala.

“Yeah,” followed Skip, “and then he showed up the next day We all thought he’d never come back, but then he just walked in, and took his old seat, like nothing happened.”

“It’s almost scary,” said Malarkey, and at Babe’s confused expression, decided to explain, “how easily he can forgive people. Actually, he walked into Winter’s office, and apologized to both him and Harry like he started it. It just makes me think of how much practice he has at apologizing for things that aren’t his fault.”

Everyone let the statement sink in. Honestly, it sent chills down Babe’s spine. He was starting to realize how serious the situation actually was, but he wasn’t done with his investigating.

“Thanks guys, I should be getting back to work.”

He got up from his seat, and was almost out the door, when the three musketeers called out for him.

“Hey Babe! For the record, I’d think you’d make a much better boyfriend!”

“Yeah! Become Doc’s knight in shining armor!”

“Save the princess from the dragon!”

“Oh, and Web goes to the same school as him! I’d ask him next!”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, thanks a lot.” and Babe walked out.

It wasn't hard to get a chance to talk to Web, since he was there every night for Liebgott. It was just hard getting Web to talk, since he always had his boyfriend’s tongue down his throat.

“Um,” Babe really didn’t want to interrupt, but Joe’s hand was sneaking up the back of Dave’s shirt, and things were starting to get side tracked, “Wasn’t your break over like half an hour ago, Lieb?”

Webster had the decency to look sheepish, as he slipped from his boyfriend’s lap to sit back in his own chair. Liebgott just looked like he wanted to throw Babe’s body across the room.

“Yeah, it was, you gonna tell on me?”

“Uh, no, I’m just here to ask about Gene.”

“Oh yeah,” Joe said while leaning back in his chair, an arm still around his boyfriend, “I heard you’ve been going around asking about him.”

Babe furrowed his eyebrows. He’s only asked Bill, Spina, and the bus boys. It wasn’t like he was running around the whole restaurant (although, that’s what it was kind of leading to).

Noticing Babe’s look, Joe explained, “You think those three stooges can keep anything to themselves? They’ve been talking about your conversation for two days now.”

Babe could feel his face heat up. He never meant for his questions to become a huge conversation topic. He was about to defend himself, when Liebgott just waved him off.

“Don’t bother, just ask your questions.”

“Ok, well um, I was just wondering what you guys knew about Gene?”

“You mean the thing about him being abused by his boyfriend?”

“Joe!” Webster gasped, “That is so insensitive!”

Liebgott just shrugged, and lazily raised his hands up, “I never said I condoned that shit, it’s just what everyone has been saying. Even you, princess.”

Webster, once again, looked away, ashamed at the fact he was caught gossiping about his friend.

Babe really had to get the conversation back on track.

“Do you believe in the rumors?”

Joe snorted, “Rumors? That’s shit as true as saying the sun comes up every morning. I may not have seen any clear evidence, but I can read body language, and let me tell you,” he leaned forward in his chair, getting into Babe’s face, “If that guy ever steps foot into this restaurant, I will personally knock his teeth out, and rub my cigarettes into his arm, before breaking every bone in his body.”

Babe, who wasn’t expecting such a strong opinion, felt shivers go up the back of his neck. He believed in every word that came out of Liebgott’s mouth.

“Of course,” he continued, “I wouldn’t be alone. This whole place would want a piece of that scumbag. We would go hunting of him, but it would just piss the Doc off. Plus, only Webster here has ever seen him, besides the Doc himself.”

At those words, Babe looked at Webster in surprise. This would be the first time Babe would get a description of the asshole.

Webster just rubbed the back of his neck nervously, not expecting to be put on the spot.

“I only saw him once, when he was picking Gene up from school. And this was months ago.”

“I’ll take anything, Web. Do you remember what he looked like?”

“Of course I do, I knew the moment I saw him something wasn’t right with him, so I committed his image to memory.”

Liebgott poked Web in the shoulder, “Well, don’t leave the poor man hanging, engel, give him some details.”

Webster blushed at the German pet name, but spoke anyways, “I remember walking with my friend, Van Klinken, to his car so he could drop me off at my apartment, and Gene was walking in front of us. At the time, I didn’t think anything of it, but now that I look back, he was always walking by himself, never had any friends to talk to. I remember he used to hang out with Ralph, but not even he was around. Anyways, we heard this loud whistle to the right of us in the parking lot. We looked over to see this huge guy leaning against an old, rundown pick up truck.”

He glanced at Babe, “And I don’t mean huge like you, Babe. You’re tall and lanky. I mean, he was still tall, would probably reach your nose, but he was also really muscular. He had brown hair, cut short, and spiked a little in the front. I couldn’t see his eyes really well, but I could tell they were dark. He would’ve been cute, if it wasn’t for the scowl on his face. And I know you scowl a lot, Liebling,” he poked Liebgott’s face until Joe caught his finger in his fist gently, “but it wasn’t like those kinds. This guy was super pissed at something, and he was looking at Gene.”

He sighed, “Gene hesitated to go over to the guy, I’m sure if I invited him to hang out with us, he wouldn’t have walked over there. Once he was by the car, the guy quickly grabbed him by the back of his neck, spoke something into his ear, and then pushed him into the passenger seat. It all happened so fast, I didn’t have time to run over and say something. Gene and I made eye contact right before he drove away, and I’ve never felt guiltier for something in my entire life. He looked so tired.”

Webster trailed off after that, staring into space. Babe really didn’t need Liebgott’s glare to back off from the questions. He could tell that the story obviously upset Web whenever he talked about it.

He was about to get up, and leave the two alone, when Webster spoke again, “I don’t know what you’re trying to do, Babe, but I hope it helps Gene. He’s not really good at making friends, or taking care of himself, despite him taking care of us all the time.”

Liebgott nodded in agreement, before adding, “You should talk to Luz, he knows everything that goes on here, the sneaky bastard.”

Babe was about to ask why, when the petrifying sight of Ronald Speirs came stalking towards them. Babe was frozen in his chair, trying not to even make his breathing too loud.

Speirs just headed straight towards Liebgott, took his ear, and pulled him back to the kitchen. Webster waved goodbye to his boyfriend, as Joe swore up and down that it was his break and “God that fucking hurts!”

Babe could only stare at the strange sight before saying goodbye to Webster, and heading back to work.

The next day, while Bill and Christensen were busy stocking, Babe took the opportunity to talk to Luz with no interruptions. Unsurprisingly, he was serving Joe Toye, or more like, he was leaning against the bar talking Toye’s ear off, while eating his wings once in awhile, and taking sips of his beer.

Buck Compton, who was sitting one chair over from Toye, was going over what looked like paperwork from his office, and swatting at Luz’s hand whenever it got too close to his basket of fries.

When Luz saw Babe approaching, a grin split his face.

“Hey Babe, long time no see. It’s hard to talk to you when you’re on the other side of the bar.”

He pat Babe’s shoulder when he got close enough, and then pointed to Toye.

“Ya know Joe, here?”

Babe nodded, “Yeah, we met at one of Bill’s parties awhile ago,” he stuck his hand out, “How you doing?”

Joe grasped his hand and gave it a firm shake, “As well as I can be while dealing with this guy everyday,” he answered in his gravelly voice while jerking his thumb in Luz’s direction, “How’ve you been?”

Babe had just enough time to answer, “Good,” before Luz had him turning towards Buck.

“And this is Buck Compton, our residential lawyer!”

Babe reached across the bar, meeting the towheaded man halfway, before returning his attention to Luz.

“Look, George, I’ve got a question for you.”

“You want to know about our Doc.”

Babe blinked, “Yeah, how’d you know?”

Luz shrugged, “I overheard you and Bill talking,” he then smiled and said in a perfect Phillie accent, “Ol’ Luz don’t miss nothin’.”

Babe rubbed his hands against his jeans, a little embarrassed about getting caught again, but he was there for a reason.

“Well, do you know anything?”

Luz scratched his cheek, “About Gene? Well, I know he’s a med student, he comes here everyday, he’s quiet, but funny sometimes. Oh! Like one time, Frank made a joke about him studying all the time, and Gene said, ‘I bet your IQ is as high as you are tall’,” he said the last bit in some kind of southern accent that Babe couldn’t pinpoint from where, or why, “We were all so shocked, that the whole bar just burst out laughing. Even Frank did! And another time, the Doc came in while it was snowing, and he doesn’t do too well with the cold, ya know? So-”

Luz went on and on, like he was known for. While Babe was happy to learn some happy stories about Gene, it wasn’t really what he came over to talk about. He went in to interrupt a few times, but, as he heard Bull say one time, “It’d be easier to wrestle a wild bear.”

Toye, who probably saw his concerned face, stopped Luz for him.

“Hey George, I don’t think that’s what he wants to know about.”

Luz looked confused for a second, “What? He wanted to know about Gene, right? What else is there to-” and then it dawned on him, “Oh. You want to know about him and his….situation?” he hesitated to say the last word, like he knew it wasn’t the right one to use.

When Babe nodded, Luz became uncharacteristically quiet. Babe almost thought he wouldn’t speak about the morbid topic as he started cleaning up some stray glasses around them. He wasn’t one to push people into doing things they don’t want to do, so he was about to tell him to forget about, when Luz spoke.

“It just sucks, ya know? Gene is so nice, and smart, and cute, and he could do so much better! I use to hear some of the, what I thought were rumors, going around about his boyfriend, about the bruises. At the time, I guess I didn’t really want to see the full picture. I didn’t want to believe that someone like Gene could be with someone that could hurt him like that. I used to think ‘Why not just leave him? I wouldn’t put up with that shit’.”

He took a shuddering breath, not realizing the full attention he had from everyone around him. Toye looked like he wanted to reach out and grab his hand, but refrained from doing so.

“But then I saw it, Babe, and it became so real to me. I was at a convenience store by my apartment, just picking a few things up that I forgot to get at the store, when I saw Gene at the checkout line. Because he never really talked much, I thought this was my chance to open him up a little bit. He was at the restaurant so much, he was basically an Easy boy, no matter what anyone said. I went up to say hi, touching his shoulder to get his attention. God, I’ve never seen a person flinch that hard in my life, and when he turned around, he had this huge black eye! His eyebrow was sliced open, the inside of his eye, from what you could see because it was so swollen, was red, and the bruise seemed to cover all of the upper right part of his face. In his hand he was holding some different brands of makeup, and it all just clicked for me! And it made me think how long he’s been hiding it all, and how we haven’t really noticed anything!”

 Joe finally had enough of Luz digging his nails into his palm, so he grabbed it where it was resting on the bar top. The gesture pulled Luz from his mind, and he was able to continue.

“The next day he came in, and made me promise not to say anything to anyone. I almost said no, and was ready to tell everyone. I just wanted someone to do something. But Gene had such a way of convincing me, I don’t even know how he did it. After awhile, the guilt was eating me alive, so I told Joe, Buck, and Lip. Eventually, Dick found out too. We decided to keep it between us, and just add it to the growing evidence.”

“Evidence?” Babe couldn’t help but interrupt.

“Yeah, evidence.” Buck spoke up, surprising Babe. He then dug into the briefcase sitting next to him, and brought out a file labeled ‘DOC Case’. To anyone else, the letters wouldn’t mean much of anything. But to the men of Easy, it had to do with their very own med student.

Buck tapped his hand on the cover of it, “In here is the testimony of every single person in this establishment about abuse related to Eugene Roe. If the Doc ever thought of taking this bastard to court, we would all back him up, even if the sentence was just a permanent injunction.”

At Babe’s confused expression, Buck clarified, “Restraining order. I’m sure our personal police officer would enforce it too.”

Everyone looked at Toye as he downed the last few sips of his beer. He then set the glass down, which was immediately refilled by Luz, “If he so much as came within five miles of Gene, I’d kick his ass straight back to hell.”

Everyone knew Luz was back to his normal self when he said, “Oh, I love it when you get all protective,” and batted his eyelashes.

However, he did turn serious for a moment, and looked Babe directly in the eyes, “I’m telling you this, because I don’t think anyone would try this hard to know a guy, without having some serious feelings for him. And if I’m wrong, I too will kick a certain someone’s ass straight to hell.”

The intense stare from all three men made a cold sweat appear on Babe’s body. Nevertheless, Babe didn’t want anyone thinking he was doing all of this just to mess with Gene.

“I’m in this with you guys. If we can do something about this asshole, I’ll do everything I can to help out.”

Babe could see how Toye and Buck relaxed a bit at his words, and Luz’s stare softened.

He pat Babe on the shoulder once again.

“Thanks, Babe, we know you will.”

He patted his shoulder twice, and Babe took that as the sign to head back to his side of the bar.

He started the monotonous motion of drying and putting away glasses, mulling over all of the information that has been thrown at him for the past week and a half. He now firmly believed that the gentle looking man was being abused, and it scared Babe to think something like that could happen to someone so close to him (proximity wise, not emotionally….although he was aiming for that).

Without even talking to the smaller man, he’d gotten so attached to him, and the idea of saving him.

Babe snorted as the image of Gene stuck in a tall tower with Babe dressed as a knight below him, trying to rescue the damsel in distress popped in his head.

“Excuse me?”

Babe jumped at the unfamiliar voice. It had an accent that Babe never heard before, southern, but so much more. It was smooth, calming, and beautiful. He turned around, only to stare straight into pools of melted dark chocolate with swirling caramel.

It was Gene.

“Wow.”

A raven eyebrow arched in a way that Babe found adorable, and a gentle sound escaped the perfect pursed lips once again. Babe was so content to stare at the alluring bows of flesh, taking in the shape, the cracks, the little scars, the way the bottom lip seemed to stick out in a cute pout when the other man was confused,

Wait, confused?

“Huh?”

Babe wanted to cringe at how unintelligent he must have sounded, but the med student gave a small smile, and let out a huff of laughter, before asking again.

“I asked if I could order a cup of coffee up here.”

Babe was able to snap out of whatever stupor he was put into with the simple question.

“Oh, of course! Let me just tell the kitchen.”

He made his way around the bar, watching as the student started taking out books and notes, opening up to a specific page, and becoming absorbed by whatever was on it.

When he made it to the kitchen, he quickly told the first person he saw, who happened to be Shifty, that the Doc wanted a coffee. Babe watched as Shifty immediately went to a cupboard filled with the coffee grounds they normally served customers, but he shoved all of those aside, and grabbed a yellow can in the back labelled ‘Cafe du Monde’. When he got the coffee brewing, he turned around to continue baking the bread that was served at dinner, but caught Babe’s curious stare at the yellow tin.

“It’s from Louisiana, where he’s from,” Shifty started to explain in his soft toned, Virginian accent, “We stock up on it only for him.”

The things the restaurant have done for Gene shouldn’t surprise Babe anymore, but he still had to ask, “Why? Seems like a lot of trouble for one person.”

It was never the bartender’s intention to make the usually kind pastry chef ticked off, but Babe promised himself right there to never do it again, because the look Shifty was giving him spelled out death.

“Gene’s never any trouble,” he spoke in a louder voice than usual, “we want this place to feel safe for him, that’s all, and if his favorite coffee from his home can do that, than we’ll get it for him. Besides, it was Johnny’s idea anyways, and if he says it, then we get it.

Babe nodded in understanding, but also shocked that the normally short tempered sous chef would actually go above and beyond for a single customer. He didn’t want to question anymore, though, since he had said cute customer waiting for his coffee by the bar.

When Shifty handed him the hot drink, Babe was about ready to book it back to where the med student was sitting, when Shifty stopped him.

“Wait one second,” he basically ordered Babe, and Babe really didn’t want to not follow an order administered by Shifty Powers. He was told by Bill once that Shifty went hunting on his days off, and was able to hit anything he set his eyes on, and he could shoot them in the same exact spot too.

He came back with a small plate, and on top of it, four warm, fresh out of the oven, powdered pastries.

“Beignets, they also come from southern Louisiana, mostly popular on Mardi Gras.”

Babe took the coffee, pastries, and interesting fact with a grateful nod of his head. On his way out of the kitchen, he passed by Liebgott and Perconte, both of which saw the coffee and dessert. Perconte gave a thumbs up and the ‘ok’ sign with his hand. Liebgott just smirked and winked at him. Babe could tell they knew who it was for, and he could feel the back of his neck heat up. He never realized how obvious his crush has been. He also passed by Martin on his way out the door. He took one look at the cup and plate, then pointed at his eyes, and directed his fingers back in Babe’s.

‘ _I’m watching you.’_ was the simple version of the gesture, but Babe could tell it really meant, _‘If you do anything to upset our Doc, I’ll hunt you down, and pour that hot coffee into your eye sockets.’_

Babe wanted to say ‘message received’, but decided not to antagonize the guy holding the filleting knife.

When he got back out to the front, Gene still had his nose stuck in a textbook. Every once in awhile, his nose would scrunch up in confusion in a way that Babe could only picture a bunny.

When Babe set the coffee mug down in front of the studious man, it made a ‘clinking’ noise that didn’t even phase him. To make sure he know he got his coffee, Babe cleared his throat loudly, and pushed the coffee in the studying doctor’s direction. When that still didn’t work, Babe decided to tap the soft looking hand that was holding a pen. The reaction was immediate, the small tap shocked him out of his zone, making him jump in surprise.

Not having the intention to scare the hardworking student, Babe apologized…..profusely, “I am so sorry, I tried not to disturb, because that all looks really important and hard and you seemed so into it, but I just wanted you to know your coffee was here, because it’s better when it’s hot. Well of course it is, it’s coffee, you know that, but you just seem like you really need it. Not saying that you look tired or anything, you look great for a med student. I mean, as in, they usually have to work really hard, and stay up late studying. Not saying that you don’t work hard, I mean, look at you right now, you just look great doing it. Like not tired! I’m rambling aren’t I? I’m sorry once I start, I can’t stop, so if you want me to stop, you’re gonna have to stop me yourself, because now it’s just getting awkward, and you’re laughing, why are you laughing?”

Gene, was in fact, letting out soft, little chuckles, that made Babe want to lean in closer to catch every one.

“Don’t worry about it, you’re just funny, that’s all.”

The small compliment had Babe beaming. He stood there for a minute, just smiling and staring at the ivory skinned man, and probably would have continued to do so, if it wasn’t for the way said man glanced to the side awkwardly.

Babe started to freak out internally a little bit, wondering what to say next, not wanting to leave it at something that made him look like a weirdo, when he remembered the pastries in his hand.

“Ah, these are courtesy of Shifty,” he explained while setting them in front of Gene, “they were called Bougnuts, or something like that.

Gene laughed again, “Beignets, et merci.”

The words were recognizable, and rolled off the other man’s tongue like silk.

“You speak French?”

“Oui, we speak it where I’m from.”

“Oh yeah?” Babe started as he leaned his on the bar’s wooden service, “Where ya from?”

He realized it came out sounding flirty, which he couldn’t really help when he was talking to a man he was attracted to, but it definitely made Gene close off a little.

“Um, I don’t want to be that guy, but I just want to put out there that I have a boyfriend.”

Babe wanted to say ‘I know everything about you and your boyfriend’, but that sounded creepy and really intrusive, especially when you’ve never talked to that person before.

So he settled for putting on a passive, smiling face, something that was inviting and friendly, and said, “You can’t blame a guy for trying. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I’m new here.

Gene looked genuinely shocked for a moment, not expecting the kind response, before giving a half smile, “No, you’re ok, you actually took that better than most guys who’ve hit on me before.”

Babe frowned, “Do a lot of guys hit on you?”

Gene shrugged, “It used to happen more often than not when I first started coming here, but it stopped after a couple of weeks,” he smirked, “and I know your coworkers have something to do with it.”

Babe let out a puff of laughter, thinking Gene didn’t even know half of the protectiveness they put in for their Doc. He still had the image of the case file in his head.

“They sure are a rowdy bunch, that’s what I’ve learned so far.”

“You’ll get used to them, I did, and they’re not so bad.”

Right as Gene said those words, Babe saw Christenson walk through the doors leading to the storage room. When he looked over, and saw Babe doing no work, he crossed his arms and gave him a death glare. Babe just smiled in his direction, and picked up a glass to dry.

“Yeah, well, you just have to deal with Renee, and she’s like, the nicest human being to step onto this planet.”

Gene brought a hand to the coffee he had yet to touch, and brought it to his lips for a sip.

“Renee’s not here today, and I didn’t want to bother the other waiters if I could help it, they seemed busy. That’s why I sat here.”

Babe had to admit to himself that he was disappointed the beautiful med student didn’t sit at the bar to talk to him, but he knew he had to be realistic. Even when he looked around, Babe could see there was an abnormally huge amount of people for a late lunch, and a lack of customers at the bar. He really couldn’t find it in himself to care, though, since he got to talk to a gorgeous, raven haired, medical student.

He was about to repeat the question of where he came from, when a phone went off. Babe watched as Gene dug through his jacket pockets, and pulled out his cellphone.

Immediately, once Gene saw who the text was from, a mixture of emotions played across his face. There was surprise, sadness, and, what scared Babe most of all, fear.

Gene suddenly sprang up from his stool, “I have to go.”

Babe felt like reaching across the bar, and stopping Gene from leaving, because there was no doubt in his mind about who it was who texted him.

But from all of the stories he’s gathered about the med student, he knew Gene would not appreciate the help, especially from a guy he just met.

The sight of everyone’s favorite Doc packing up early caused many looks to be directed his way. Babe looked over at Luz, wondering if he could prevent him from leaving, but Luz only shook his head. Babe cast his gaze through the rest of the restaurant, only to see anyone that seemed to have a connection to Gene, look away. The message was clear.

There was no use in helping someone who didn’t want any help. When Gene was ready to make the first step, his friends would be there, but for now, they could only offer him a place to escape.

Without Babe even realizing it, Gene already packed up all of his textbooks and notes, and left money on the counter for the coffee, and even a tip for Babe.

“Tell Darrell I said thanks for the pastries, and,” he took this moment to fiddle with his backpack strap nervously, “thank you for talking with me today.”

The sight of a flustered Gene caused Babe’s heart to flutter and break at the same time.

“If you want, I’m working tomorrow. We can continue our talk then.”

A sincere look came upon Gene’s face, and Babe saw a tug on Gene’s lips that formed a small smile.

“Ok then, I’ll see you tomorrow, um….”

It took Babe a moment to realize he was waiting for him to fill in the blank.

“Oh! It’s Babe Heffron.”

Gene cocked his head to the side and furrowed his eyebrows, “Babe?”

“Well,” Babe scratched the back of his head nervously, he hated telling his real name, “It’s actually Edward, but please don’t call me that. Not even my parents call me that. I’m only Edward to the nuns at my old church school.”

The true statement caused Gene to let out one last soft chuckle, “Ok, I’m Eugene Roe.  I’ll see you tomorrow, Heffron.”

Babe was too busy watching Gene leave the restaurant to notice that he didn’t say his first name, but when he did, he couldn’t help but voice his confusion.

“Heffron?”

“That’s just the way he is, never calls anyone by their nickname.”

The sudden appearance of his best friend caused Babe to jump two feet in the air.

“Jesus Christ, Gonorrhea, make some noise when you walk!”

Bill just smiled a toothy grin before walking away.

Babe shook his head and looked in the direction of the door.

“Doesn’t use anyone’s nickname, huh?”

Well, Babe would make sure he’d be the first.

“BABE! STOP STANDING AROUND!”

Later.

 

* * *

 

The next two months went by faster for Babe than his first week at the restaurant. It was partly because he finally got used to his job, and could do everything without asking anyone for help. However, it mostly had to do with the med student he got to talk to every day.

Gene officially moved to the bar, causing one table in the restaurant to finally become available to all customers, and one bar stool to not be.

In the beginning, Gene would still arrange his studying material around him, and dig his nose into his books whenever Babe wasn’t talking to him. It was mostly small talk at first, anyways, and it was hard getting Gene to talk about himself. Questions like, “Do you have any pets?” were fine, but others like, “Where do you live around here?” would make Gene shrink into himself, and ramble off a mash of confusing and vague answers.

It was like that for the first couple weeks, and his buddies at the restaurant told him that that was “Just Gene,” and “It took Renee months to get him to open up to her.”

Well, Babe was proud to admit he had the new personal record when it came to getting to know the Doc, and it all had to do with one question.

“How’d you get into medicine?”

Gene looked up from the notes he was writing down to look at Babe, “My Grand-mère.”

“What, was she a nurse or something?” Babe asked to keep the conversation going.

“No,” Gene responded, “she was a traiteuse,” he must have seen how confused he was at the word because he explained, “Cajun faith healer.”

“Jesus, how’d she do that?”

“Laid her hands on people and cured ‘em. Took away sickness, cancer, you name it.”

Babe reeled back in shock, “Bet that was a sight to see.”

Gene smiled softly at the memory, “Her touch calmed people, and that’s a gift from God.”

Babe looked down at the medical student’s own hands, and picked one up to look closer at it. Gene flinched at the sudden contact, but Babe just rubbed the back of his hand soothingly as he looked at every line, every crack, every callus.

“Oh, I see what you mean, you must have it too.”

Gene smiled, “You don’t even know what you’re looking for,” he tried to pull his hand away.

Babe held on a little tighter, “No, I’m serious, I’m feeling pretty calm right now.”

He brushed over the back of Gene’s hand one more time, not minding how rough it felt in some spots, knowing it was from the hard work it took to become a great doctor. Not wanting Gene to feel uncomfortable, he let go of the appendage almost as quickly as he picked it up.

“I’m serious, Gene,” he continued, “I think you have this doctoring stuff in your blood.”

Gene was silent, staring at the hand that was dropped back onto the bar, and then back at Babe. The ginger started to think he got something on his face.

“What?” he had to ask after too much silence went by.

The question seemed to snap Gene out of whatever trance he put himself into, and pull back into himself

“Sorry, it’s nothing.”

Babe just wasn’t going to drop the matter like that, though.

“Come on, tell me! You’re making me think I have food in my teeth. This face is what gets me tips ya know!”

The joke caused Gene to open up some, enough for a small smile.

“It’s just...normally when I tell people that, they don’t believe me. Ryan calls it voodoo bullshit.”

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that ‘Ryan’ was the name of Gene’s asshole boyfriend, and he just gave Babe one more reason to despise him. But he also just gave Babe an opportunity to be better than him.

“I don’t know what this ‘Ryan’ is talking about, but I think all of that kind of stuff is really important from where you came from.”

The lack of response from Gene’s side caused Babe to have another rambling fit.

“I mean, isn’t it? It sounds really important, like culture, and even I know culture is important. They pretty much cram it into your skull in school, so it must be. And who wouldn’t think faith healing is cool? That’s pretty badass, is what it is. You just touch someone, and they’re all better! Just like that! Maybe everyone should practice faith healing! It would certainly solve a lot of problems. I mean, curing cancer? Are you kidding me? That’s just amazing! Although, it would take jobs away, like, I guess we really wouldn’t need doctors anymore, so you’d be pretty useless. But I guess you could start studying faith healing! It’s in your blood! But maybe only Cajuns can do it, which would be a problem because then we would actually need doctors and stuff, and I can’t stop talking, please make me stop.”

The sight of Gene laughing, even if it was barely audible, would never get old for Babe. The thing that shocked him the most was when Gene reached out to grab his hand to shut him up.

“Ok, Heffron, I get it, you think faith healing is awesome,” he ran his thumb over Babe’s knuckles before placing his hand back down. Babe took that gesture as a silent ‘Thank you’. But Babe wasn’t done making Gene feel special.

“Of course I do, it’s apart of you, isn’t it?”

Babe could tell Gene wasn’t used to compliments, since he just put his head down to stare at his coffee mug. So Babe had a new mission. Not only was he going to learn everything he could about the raven haired beauty, he was going to boost his confidence by complementing the hell out of him.

So everyday since then, Babe asked Gene questions about himself, and since he seemed genuinely interested, Gene answered them.

He learned things like how Gene worked at a free clinic on the weekends (as if he wasn’t an angel enough). He learned that Gene found Easy Company after walking towards his apartment after classes and it started to pour, and, yes, he did realize how protective they were, and, no, he didn’t mind being called ‘Doc’.

He even talked about his family after a while. How he grew up in Bayou Chene, Louisiana (“Nothing but a swamp”), but eventually moved to Morgan City because of flooding. He told Babe simple things, like how he loved to fish, and would love to again one day (“But Ryan really hates outdoor kind of stuff”). He also told Babe serious things, like how his father died in a car accident when he was a teenager, and he almost dropped out of school to help his mom with his two younger siblings while his two older siblings went to school.  

He learned, after much prodding, that Gene loved chocolate, and could be bribed with it, and has been to fix the injuries for  “these idiots that work here” (“We love you, Doc!”).

After a while, Gene stopped putting his textbooks on the bar, content with just talking to Babe the entire time. He even became comfortable enough to talk about Ryan with him. How he met him at the school’s library, and he expressed he was also studying for his dream job. He was so captured by Gene’s passion for medicine, he asked him out, and they’ve been dating ever since. After a year, when Ryan graduated, he told Gene that he gave up on his dream job so he could give all of his support to Gene’s dream. He took his business major to start his own landscaping business, and asked Gene to move in with him in the suburbs.

Babe could spot the manipulation from a mile away, but to a 20 year old Gene, to be able to cut down on cost and commute instead of dorm, Ryan must have seemed like a God send. He even offered to pay for everything in the house, so Gene could just focus on school.

Gene never talked about the abuse, though, or even problems that the relationship probably had.

Whenever Gene came in with bruises peeking out from underneath his shirt, or covered up with an obvious makeup job on his face, Babe never said a word. When Gene got a sudden phone call with a screaming man on the other line, Babe would just say “See you tomorrow!” as Gene walked out of the restaurant in a hurry.

It tore Babe to shreds seeing him walk out everyday. He didn’t know how everyone has been doing it for years. One time he almost walked out after him, but Bill had to stop him and say, “Trust me, if he don’t want help, then we can’t help ‘im”

So Babe decided to try and fix the problem himself, and at least make Gene stay longer.

He did this by making Gene tell more stories about his life, and about telling his own stories. He even listened to medical lectures, which, with Gene explaining everything, were actually pretty interesting. It wasn’t long until the medical student would stay until closing, and Babe would even walk him to the bus stop, before making his own trip home.

Everyone was shocked that he got their Doc to open up to him so fast, and it was easily the best two months of Babe’s life. However, all good things must come to an end, and soon, Babe’s best days lead to Gene’s worst.

 

* * *

 

Babe was cleaning up the bar area, killing time until closing. The last couple customers left about an hour ago, and Babe was all by himself. It was softball season for the different businesses in the area, and so Easy Company left early to win another game. Since Babe was the newest worker, he didn’t have enough time to sign up, so he offered to close on these game days instead. It was boring, yes, but Dick and Nix were grateful enough to let him at least finish early.

Babe just finished pushing in the barstools, keeping one out for himself so he could relax and watch T.V. until the guys came back to celebrate, when the door slammed open. The noise shocked Babe, and almost made him fall out of his chair. He leaned back to see a tall, muscular man standing in the doorway, looking around.

Babe got up slowly, thinking that this was just another idiot that couldn’t read a closed sign if it hit him in the face.

“Hey, buddy, sorry to break it to you, but we’re closed. You’re gonna have to come back another time.”

The man’s gaze landed on him, and instead of begging for one drink, or apologizing for intruding, like most of the idiots did, he just narrowed his eyes, and pointed his fat finger at Babe.

“Is your name Heffron?”

The specific question caught Babe off guard.

“Uh, yeah, I’m Heffron.”

The man’s glare went from pissed off to ‘I’m going to kill you’ in less than a second.

“You son of a bitch!”

The sudden outburst caught Babe off guard, and he barely had time to put his hands up before the man came barrelling into him. He landed hard on the floor, causing the wind to be knocked out of him. He coughed, and tried to roll over, but the man was already on top of him, throwing punches. He got in a few good ones to Babe’s face. Babe could already feel his cheek swell as blood poured into his mouth from his new split lip. Before the man was able to take another, head shot, though, Babe caught the man’s arms, and, with pure adrenaline, was able to push him off. They both got to their feet, and Babe was about to go in for a swing, when a familiar med student ran in. However, when Babe saw his face, a new fire sparked inside him.

The right part of his forehead looked like he was thrown against a hard surface, held there, and repeatedly smashed against it. His nose looked crooked, the septum (he learned the word from Gene), being swollen, and split open. He had dried blood smeared underneath his nose, leading to a fat lip that was dark and cut. His left eye was barely open, and was a mixture of purple and red from the corner of it, to his temple. His face looked so broken, it made Babe fear about the state of the rest of his body.

Gene scanned the room, and when his eyes landed on the two fighting men, he booked it between them, pushing the other man away from Babe.

“Ryan,” ah it was the boyfriend, that made more sense, “I told you not to come here!”

‘Ryan’ pointed in Babe’s direction, shifting his weight back and forth, ready for a fight.

“This is the guy you’ve been cheatin’ on me with!”

“No I haven’t been cheatin’ on you!” Gene tried moving closer to his boyfriend, reaching out to grab his hands, “Come on, you know I would neva do that to you. I love you-”

“BULLSHIT!”

The sudden outburst was followed by a quick backhand to the face, the sound echoing throughout the empty restaurant. Babe could barely stand to see the bruises, but now that the abuse was happening right in his face, he couldn’t just watch.

He took a step forward, “If you touch him again, I’ll knock your head off your shoulders!”

Gene whipped his head around to look at him, “Babe, stay out of this!”

“Babe?!”

This time it was Ryan’s turn to reach out to Gene, and grab him around his upper arms.

“You callin’ other guys ‘babe’ now?! You feel proud of bein’ such a slut, huh? Is that it?! Coming home late every night, because of him!”

Babe could only watch as Gene tried to struggle out of the other man’s grip.

“Come on, man, it’s just a nickname!” Babe tried to defend Gene, but his words only seemed to make the other man tighten his grip.

“You tell him to say that, Gene? You expect me to believe such bullshit?! That I wouldn’t find out? That none of my buddies would see you here? Well let me tell you this, _sweetheart_ , I’m gonna beat the living shit out of this guy, and then I’m going to take you home, and show you who exactly you belong to.” he emphasized his point with a rough shake, before pushing Gene into a table.

Babe went to go help him, when the huge man came stalking towards him again. Babe got his fists up, ready to fight. It wouldn’t be his first, he’d gotten into plenty of bar fights with Bill back in Philly, so he felt fairly confident in himself.

Babe pulled back his fist, going in for the first punch, when Gene came back in between them, this time tugging his boyfriend’s arm back towards the door.

“Come on, Ryan, let’s just go home! I won’t eva come back here, I promise!”

Ryan looked ready to take another swing at his ‘lover’s’ face, when the door was thrown open again, and in walked the rest of Easy Company.

They filed in one at a time, all laughing, and talking about the game, clapping each other on the shoulders, and playing ‘grab fanny’ with the man in front of them (Luz).

Gene immediately pulled his boyfriend back towards, him, hiding his face behind his broad back. Babe thought he heard him whisper “Let’s just go Ryan,” but he would never let that happen. Tonight was the night it was all going to end. No more lying, no more hiding, and no more hurting.

Noticing the tense air, the guys seemed to quiet down, and look around for their youngest bartender. It did not take long to spot the three men in the middle of the dining area.

“What’s going on here?” Nixon spoke up first.

The lunkheaded man seemed to know when he was outnumbered, because he grasped Gene’s hand, and tugged him towards the door, “Nothing, we were just leaving.”

He made it about halfway through the crowd, Gene keeping his face down. Babe almost thought no one was going to say anything, and that would have just crossed all of the moral lines that Babe has set for himself, when good ol’ Lipton reached out to grab Gene’s shoulder.

“Gene,” he started, “please look at us.”

Gene was stubborn, and kept his face towards the floor, but he stood where he was, ignoring the constant tugging of his boyfriend.

Lipton took the chance to place his hand underneath Gene’s chin, and tilt it upwards. With no struggle at all, the raven haired man a loud it to happen.

The sight caused gasps to resonate throughout the bar.

“Gene,” Lip started, as he took Gene’s face in his hands , but he was interrupted.

“YOU SON OF A BITCH!” Liebgott suddenly shouted while springing towards Ryan, his boyfriend right behind him. Soon, most of Easy Company was pouncing on the man, trying to get their own shots in. Instead, of joining in, Babe started to head towards Gene, when the Doc shouted,

“STOP!”

Immediately, all fighting had ceased, ending with Penkala and Skip holding the bastard back, as Malarkey was ready to take a swing.

Gene started to make his way over to his boyfriend, a sort of lost look set in his eyes, when Martin put his hand up, and gently pushed him back from the scene.

“This has to stop, Doc.”

Gene looked between Johnny and Ryan, confusion settling into his gaze in a way that broke Babe’s heart.

Spina and Renee suddenly came forward, each taking one of Gene’s arms, making sure he couldn’t take another step forward.

“Gene,” Renee whispered, “laissez-nous vous aider.”

Gene shook his head at the French phrase, “Je n'ai pas besoin d'aide.”

Babe may not have understood the words, but the denial in Gene’s eyes said it all.

_‘I don’t need help.’_

“Why, Gene?”

Babe’s question caused all eyes to turn towards him, but he only cared about one pair.

“Why do you put up with him? With all of this?” he walked towards Gene, until there was only a foot of space between them.

Gene looked away from him, “You wouldn’t understand, Edward-”

“Then help me understand, Gene, help all of us understand! This man isn’t even worth the dog shit I saw on the side of the street this morning, and someone as amazing as you stays with him! Help me understand! Because this man is abusing you!”

Gene seemed to shrink into himself, “Please stop.”

“No, I’m not gonna stop, I’m tired of tiptoeing around you! Look at you!,” he took the last step into his personal space, noticing as he wrapped his hands around Gene’s shoulders that Spina and Renee backed away, “You are smart, and kind, and so goddamn beautiful, that you could have anyone you wanted to, and you settle for this scumbag. This guy,” he turned his body slightly to point at the douchebag being held back, “beats the hell out of you every day, and you stay with him. Why, Gene?”

The conversation grabbed everyone’s attention, since it was the question that they’ve all wanted to ask their Doc for years.

Said Doc just gave Babe a look filled with anger, frustration, sadness, and defeat.

“You think I don’t know what’s happening to me? I figured it out years ago!”

“Then why-”

“Because it never worked!”

The statement seemed to shock everyone, even Gene. Unsurprisingly, it was Dick that took the responsibility to continue the conversation.

“What do you mean, Eugene?”

Gene shook his head, “I can’t say, Dick, I just have to go.”

He went to move around Babe, but he quickly reached out stopped him.

“Please, Gene, just try to explain. For us.”

Babe could tell that he wanted to, the struggle in his eyes seemed to be an old one, that he’s had within himself for years. He opened his mouth, and Babe was sure he was going to tell them everything, when the bastard spoke up.

“Don’t listen to them, baby, they’ll ruin everything you’ve worked for, that we’ve worked for!”

Bull Randleman was suddenly behind the man, standing about two heads taller, and grasping his shoulder tightly.

“I would shut that hole in your face, boy.”

The man who once seem tall, confident, and feared, was now shrunken in more ways than one under the harsh grip. Dick, however, knew they weren’t going to get much out of Gene with the man in the room.

“Speirs,” Dick called for him like an order, and the man responded by being right by Dick’s side, “Get him out of here,” he gestured with his head towards the son of a bitch being held down by Bull. He didn’t out right say ‘Beat the shit out of him’, but everyone pretty much thought it was implied. So when Speirs led him out the back, the man barely able to struggle against the strong grip, most of Easy followed.

The only people left in the room were Dick, Nixon, Lipton, Babe, and Gene. Renee also stayed behind, but knew she wouldn’t be the one to reach Gene, so she started to clean up the damage that has been done.

Lipton took charge, and like a comforting mom, he gently lead Gene to a table with chairs for him to sit down. The others sat down around him.

“So,” Nixon started, “spill it, kid.”

Dick sent his husband an annoyed look at his insensitivity, but he also understand that it was time to be straightforward with their Doc, or they would never get the answers they were looking for.

Since Babe started the confrontation, he felt like he should be there for Gene to finish it. Despite not knowing him as long as some of the others, the connection that he felt with him was something he never felt with anyone before. He wanted Gene to be safe, and if that meant him being mad at Babe for the rest of his life, so be it. Babe could live with himself. He, however, could not live with Gene ever going back to that man. As it turned out, Gene really didn’t want to either.

“When he first started hitting me, I never thought of myself as someone goin’ through abuse. I just saw myself as strong and independent, as I helped my boyfriend through some rough times, that’s all.”

He took in a shuddering breath, “But then one day, I came home from Easy like usual, and made dinner, because he said he wanted me home. He got home late, and I knew he was out drinking with his friends, and I was mad, because he told me to make dinner, and I actually took time to do it. He told me to put it away, but I was just so mad, I told him to do it himself. It was the first time I ever really stood up for myself, and he beat me close to death for it.”

He glanced up at Lipton, “I don’ know if you rememba, but I didn’t come in for-”

“A whole week,” Lip interrupted, “Yeah, I remember. Some people were ready to form a manhunt for you.”

Gene smiled fondly at the thought, but then winced as it tugged at his split lip.

“That night I tried to leave, had all my bags pack, and was ready to walk out the door, when he took a gun out, and threatened to shoot if I took one more step.”

This time he looked at Babe with tears floating in his eyes, making Babe instinctively reach out, and hold his hand. Gene didn’t pull away.

“I was so scared. He locked me in the apartment for the rest of the week, dropping me off at school, and picking me up. I wasn’t aloud to talk to anyone, call anyone, or even look at anyone. I honestly thought that was gonna be the rest of my life. But when the week was up, it was suddenly like how it was before, I was just more conscious than ever about how messed up it’s always been.”

After getting through what must have been the worst part of the story, Gene composed himself, and got through the rest of it.

“It was like a cycle after that. He would have rage fits, I would threaten to leave, and he would either beat me, lock me in, or threaten me. But what really got me was when he threatened you guys. He would say things like how he could shut this place down, or have people target the employees, anything to get me to stay. And I would listen to him.”

The table was silent, everyone waiting for someone else to speak up at the truth. Gene just kept his head down, waiting for any kind of response.

Finally, Nixon broke the silence.

“Jesus Christ.”

Dick glared at his husband, “Lew, come on.”

“What! It’s just a lot, ya know?”

“You’d think you could say more than just ‘Jesus Christ’.”

“What more can you say?”

“This coming from someone who went to Yale.”

“And now owns a restaurant.”

“We own the restaurant, Lewis.”

“My point is, if you wanted a more literate husband, then you should’ve married Webster.”

“That is off topic. Sometimes I don’t know how I tolerate you.”

“Hey, you married me.”

“......yes I did.”

The couple stopped their affectionate bickering when they heard a certain Doc laugh harder than anyone has ever seen before. It was such a sight to see, they could only stare at him until he found the ability to calm down.

“I’m sorry,” Gene giggled (Giggled! Babe’s heart was gonna burst out of his goddamn chest!), “You guys are just so perfect for each other. I wish I could have something like that.”

Babe couldn’t take it anymore.

“Goddamn it, Gene, you can! You don’t have to stay with that guy, you never had to! All you needed to do was ask for help from your friends! We would do anything for you! I would do anything for you!”

If it wasn’t for the way Gene’s eyes seemed to pop out of his skull, Babe would have never realized he just admitted his long time crush. After getting so close to Gene, he didn’t want to ruin everything over his confession.

“Like I said, we would do anything for you! Just ask for it! Seriously anything. And I’ll be one of the guys! One person apart of the whole ‘we’ thing hahaha. Not saying like I won’t help you if you need just me, or implying it just has to be me! I’ll just be an option, ok? But don’t feel pressure to talk to m-”

Babe could swear he was seeing stars as the world’s softest bare of lips landed on his own. It was awkward, and tasted a little like blood because of his fat lip, but Babe could easily list it as the best kiss he’s ever gotten. As soon as it started, though, it was over, and Gene was pulling back.

“Babe,” just hearing him say his name caused his heart to swell, “shut up.”

Babe followed the orders like a champ, since he was so tongue tied he could only nod.

“So that’s how you shut up a Babe,” Nixon spoke with humor in his voice, causing a faint blush to emerge on Gene’s pale skin.

Dick cleared his throat, “Um, not that I’m not happy, but can we please get back to the matter at hand. Gene, what are you going to do?”

Gene looked at his hands resting in his lap, “He’ll just find me again. I’ve done my research, if abusers don’t kill the other person, than they end of stalkin’ ‘em.”

“You’re forgetting who you’re friends with.”

Everyone looked up to see Speirs walking in. Even if there wasn’t a drop of blood on the man, that did not settle any minds in the room to what he probably did to the man outside.

The seemingly ‘cold-hearted’ man came up behind his boyfriend, to kiss him lovingly, before returning his attention to Dick.

“The matter has been dealt with.”

“And the others?”

His smirk sent chills down Babe’s spine, “Still dealing with it.”

“Good,” Dick looked at Gene, “Eugene, you may not realize it, but you have more than enough evidence to press charges against this man, and at least, obtain a restraining order. There are no excuses. Buck and Toye are more than willing to help you with the matter, all you have to do is ask.”

Gene shook his head, “Where would I go? They only reason I’m able to stay here and pay for med school is with Ryan paying for the house. If he’s gone, where would I go?”

It was Lipton’s turn to smile, and reach for Gene, “You can stay with us. Ron and I have an extra room, we’re close to your school, it’ll be like a new start.”

Gene opened his mouth to protest, when Lipton beat him to it, “You don’t need to pay us anything, Gene. Everyone deserves a second chance, you most of all, just take this one.”

Gene looked to be at a loss for words, his eyes jumping from one face to another, seemingly at a loss for words. His eyes misted over, but he refused to let them turn into tears. He had enough of crying for himself.

Babe thought he was never going to answer, so he asked him, “Well, Gene, whatd’ya say?”

The raven haired man seemed to swallow past a lump in his throat, before opening his mouth, and saying the one words he’s wanted to for a long time.

“Ok.”

 

* * *

 

It was close to midnight when everyone decided enough was enough, and it was time to go home. Every member of Easy Company approached Gene before they left, giving him hugs, hair ruffles, and affectionate pats on the back, all promising to help get their Doc’s things the next day. Naturally, Gene swore it was unnecessary and that he’d ‘get it later’, but Easy Company was done just standing by and watching their friend struggle alone. So the plan was made to meet at the restaurant the next morning, and swarm into Gene’s old house like a gang, whether his ex-boyfriend was there or not.

Speaking of which, they left the douchebag just conscious enough to crawl out of the alley, and get away from the restaurant, but not before swearing to “sue the hell out of them” and “coming back for his bitch”. The words left him with one more kick to his sure to be broken ribs, and a promise from Buck to ruin his life if he ever saw him again, whether in court, or on the streets.  

Babe was currently waiting outside with Gene as Ron and Lip pulled up their car. Despite Gene promising everything felt fine, those two together knew bullshit when they saw it, and were going to drag him to the hospital if need be. The sight of Gene pouting was adorable.

They were close, but not touching. His hands stayed directly in his jacket, while the med student kept his folded around him. They didn’t really talk since Babe’s confession, and he was starting to worry that he ruined any chance of being close with the med student.

The silence was suffocating, making the air feel hotter than normal (but it was probably being so close to the beautiful man that was making him sweat). Babe knew one of them had to say something before the night was over, and he guessed it was going to be him.

“I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.”

Both men blinked at each other.

“You’re sorry?”

“For what?”

“I’m thanking you for helping me get out of that relationship, for pushing me to do the thing I should’ve done years ago, for helping to get my life back. What are you sorry for?”

“Oh, well, um,” he really didn't know how to word it, “I’m sorry for taking advantage of when you were sad, and admitting my feelings for you.”

Gene looked at him with wide eyes, making Babe feel like he could get lost in them.

“What are you talkin’ about, Babe? I kissed you, remember?”

“Yeah, but you wouldn’t have felt like you had to if I didn’t say anything!”

“I didn’t kiss you out of pity, I kissed you because I like you too!”

Babe felt like time froze.

“What?”

Gene wrung his hands together nervously, “Look, I never actually told you why Ryan decided to go after you.”

“I thought it was because his friends saw us talking with each other.”

“They did, but he only called them to ask if they saw me with anyone new after I...did something.”

Now Babe was curious, “What’d you do?”

Gene seemed to turn red from the bottom of his neck, to the top of his head, “I sorta said your name…..in a time when it’s really not appropriate to say someone else’s name.”

It took Babe about twenty seconds to run the sentence through his head, tear it to pieces, and put it back together. When he finally figured it out, a goofy smile spread across his face.

“You mean you said my name-”

“Please don’t say it out loud.”

“Instead of his name-”

“Please stop.”

“When you two-”

“Do not finish-.”

“Were having SE-”

Gene slammed his hand on top of Babe’s mouth, stopping the next word, and the laughs that would follow.

“You’re a dead man if you finish that sentence.”

Babe stuck his tongue out to lick the hand covering his mouth, causing Gene to laugh and pull his hand away. However, the smile caused Gene to pull at his split lip, and crunch his already broken. The raven haired man pulled away from Babe, swearing in what Babe knew was French, but had no idea what it meant, and covering his nose with this hand. A new wave of guilt hit Babe with full force.

“See what I’m talking about! You’re hurt because of me! That’s why I’m sorry!”

“Stop,” Gene spoke, but slightly muffled, from where his hand was placed, “I didn’t even know that you liked me when I said your name, so it’s in no way you’re fault.”

Babe was about to protest, but stopped. He knew it was an argument that neither would win, so he asked a question that’s been on his mind all night instead.

“So what does this mean for us?”

Gene immediately stopped fiddling with his nose to look at Babe.

“Oh,” the words seemed to get stuck in his throat, “Look, I really, really like you, but I just got out of this relationship-”

“It’s ok, Gene. I don’t want to force you into anything. I’ll wait for however long you need me to.”

The words seemed to sooth the other man, as he took Babe’s hand into his own.

“Thank you.”

It was in that moment when Speirs decided to finally bring the car around, Lipton in the passenger seat, waving Gene over.

“Looks like that’s your ride.”

“Yeah,” Gene stared at the car, before tightening the grip on Babe’s hand on more time, and letting it go, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Heffron,” and he walked away.

Babe followed his movements as he moved towards the car, excited for a new start the next day, when Gene’s words caught up with him.

“Gene! What is with this ‘Heffron’ bullshit! You called me Babe, like, twice in there! You know my name, why don’t you use it?”

His mock anger caused Gene to turn around one more time, and wink at him.

“You’ll have to work at it, Heffron. Just watch the goddamn road.”

Right as the words left his mouth, a car came around the bend, hitting a puddle that has been there for two days, and spraying Babe.

Babe could hear Gene’s light chuckles as he got into Speir’s car and drove off towards the hospital.

 _‘Yep,’_ Babe decided, ' _definitely worth the wait.’_


End file.
